When winter weather arrives, most bats hibernate in caves, but a few species migrate to warmer areas. Warmer being relative, the migrating bats may still end up in places that are too cold for comfort, and sometimes hibernate under leaf litter for short periods of time.

Roger Perry, a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Forest Service’s Southern Research Station, studied these temporary hibernation sites to find out how much protection they offered bats, and how much energy bats expend to stay alive.

The leaf litter study took place in and around the Alum Creek Experimental Forest of the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas, and focuses on eastern red bats, a migratory species that remains active through most of the winter. When winter temperatures are not too cold the bats roost in trees, but when temperatures plunge, the bats temporarily hibernate underneath leaf litter. Read more »